Artūrs Irbe

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LatviaLatvia  Artūrs Irbe Ice hockey player
IIHF Hall of Fame , 2010
Date of birth 2nd February 1967
place of birth Riga , Latvian SSR
size 173 cm
Weight 86 kg
position goalkeeper
Catch hand Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 1989 , 10th round, 196th position
Minnesota North Stars
Career stations
1986-1991 Dinamo Riga
1991-1996 San Jose Sharks
1996-1997 Dallas Stars
1997-1998 Vancouver Canucks
1998-2003 Carolina Hurricanes
2003-2004 Johnstown Chiefs
2005-2006 EC Red Bull Salzburg
2006-2007 HK Nitra

Artūrs Irbe ( Russian Артур Ариевич Ирбе / Artur Arijewitsch Irbe; born February 2, 1967 in Riga , Latvian SSR ) is a former Soviet and Latvian ice hockey goalkeeper and currently works as the goalkeeping coach of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League . During his career he played for the San Jose Sharks , Dallas Stars , Vancouver Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes in the National Hockey League.

Career

Artūrs Irbe in Red Bull Salzburg dress

His career began at Dinamo Riga in the Soviet League in the 1986/87 season as a substitute goalkeeper. In the following season he rose - due to the injury of Vitālijs Samoilovs - to the goalkeeper and led Dinamo Riga to the Soviet runner-up in his first full season . In the years 1989 and 1990 he played for the Soviet national ice hockey team at the world championships, which it was entitled in both years. In the 1989 NHL Entry Draft he was selected by the Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas Stars ) in the tenth round in 196th place.

In 1991 he refused to play for the Soviet national team because Latvia had proclaimed independence from the Soviet Union, but the Soviets tried to suppress it militarily.

He played his first NHL games for the San Jose Sharks in the 1991/92 season . After two rather weak seasons, the Sharks managed to get into the playoffs for the first time in the club's young history in the 1993/94 season , eliminating the Detroit Red Wings and losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs just 3: 4 games .

In the summer after the successful season, Irbe was attacked by his own dog and seriously injured. Although he was able to play again, he did not bring his full performance for a long time, was given to the Dallas Stars in 1996 and from these to the Vancouver Canucks in 1997 . It wasn't until he switched to the Carolina Hurricanes in 1998 that his career started to pick up again. In the 2001/02 season he led the Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup final, in which they lost 4-1 to the Detroit Red Wings . In 2004 he was sent to the Columbus Blue Jackets made, but only came in AHL and ECHL farm teams used. In the 2005/06 season he finally moved to Austria for the Red Bulls Salzburg .

At the men's ice hockey world championship in 1996 (group B) he was also the goalkeeper for the Latvian national team in goal, the team qualified for the A world championship that year. This was followed by world championships in 1997 , 1998 , 1999 , 2000 , 2001 , 2003 , 2004 and 2005 as well as participation in the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 and Turin in 2006 . In 2006 he was the standard bearer of the Latvian team.

"Trademarks" of Artūrs Irbe were his small height (173 cm) and his old-fashioned goalkeeping equipment.

During the 2008/09 season he was goalkeeping coach at Dinamo Riga from the Continental Hockey League , where he coached Martin Prusek and Edgars Masaļskis, among others . In August 2009, Irbe was introduced as the new goalkeeping coach of the Washington Capitals . In this role he will look after the goalkeepers José Théodore , Michal Neuvirth and Semjon Warlamow from the 2009/10 season .

Achievements and Awards

NHL statistics

Seasons Games Victories Defeats draw Minutes GT Shutouts Sv% GTS
Regular season 13 568 218 236 79 32066 1513 33 .899 2.83
Playoffs 6th 51 23 27 - 2981 142 1 .902 2.86

( Legend for the goalkeeper statistics: GP or Sp = total games; W or S = wins; L or N = defeats; T or U or OT = draws or overtime or shootout defeats; min. = Minutes; SOG or SaT = shots on goal; GA or GT = goals conceded; SO = shutouts ; GAA or GTS = goals conceded ; Sv% or SVS% = catch quota ; EN = empty net goal ; 1  play-downs / relegation ; italics : statistics not complete)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Irbe, Artūrs
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian ice hockey player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd February 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Riga , Latvian SSR